The table below describes the attributes used by various Graphviz tools. The table gives the name of the attribute, the graph components (node, edge, etc.) which use the attribute
and the type of the attribute (strings representing legal values of that type). Where applicable, the table also gives a default value for the attribute, a minimum allowed setting for numeric attributes, and certain restrictions on the use of the attribute.
Note that attribute names are case-sensitive. This is usually true for attribute values as well, unless noted.
All Graphviz attributes are specified by name-value pairs. Thus, to set the fillcolor of a node abc, one would use
| abc [fillcolor = red] |
Similarly, to set the arrowhead style of an edge abc -> def,
one would use
| abc -> def [arrowhead = diamond] |
Further details concerning the setting of attributes can be found in the description of the DOT
language.
At present, most device-independent units are either inches or points, which we
take as 72 points per inch.
Note: Some attributes, such as dir or arrowtail,
are ambiguous when used in DOT with an undirected graph since the head and tail of an edge are meaningless. As a convention, the
first time an undirected edge appears, the DOT parser will assign the left node as the tail node and the right node as the head.
For example, the edge A -- B will have tail A and head B. It is the user's responsibility to handle such edges consistently. If the edge appears later, in the format
| B -- A [taillabel = "tail"] |
the drawing will attach the tail label to node A. To avoid
possible confusion when such attributes are required, the user is encouraged to use a directed graph. If it is important to make the graph appear undirected, this can be done using the dir, arrowtail or arrowhead attributes.
The tools accept standard C representations for int and double types. For the bool type, TRUE values are represented by "true" or "yes" (case-insensitive) and any non-zero integer, and
FALSE values by "false" or "no" (case-insensitive) and zero. In addition, there are a variety of specialized types such as arrowType, color, point and rankdir. Legal values for these types are given at the end.
In the Used By field, the characters E, N, G, S and C represent edges, nodes, the root graph, subgraphs and cluster subgraphs, respectively. This field indicates which graph component uses the attribute.
| Name | Used By | Type | Default | Minimum | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damping | G | double | 0.99 | 0.0 | neato only |
| K | GC | double | 0.3 | 0 | sfdp, fdp only |
| URL | ENGC | escString | <none> | svg, postscript, map only | |
| area | NC | double | 1.0 | >0 | patchwork only |
| arrowhead | E | arrowType | normal | ||
| arrowsize | E | double | 1.0 | 0.0 | |
| arrowtail | E | arrowType | normal | ||
| aspect | G | aspectType | dot only | ||
| bb | G | rect | write only | ||
| bgcolor | GC | color colorList |
<none> | ||
| center | G | bool | false | ||
| charset | G | string | "UTF-8" | ||
| clusterrank | G | clusterMode | local | dot only | |
| color | ENC | color colorList |
black | ||
| colorscheme | ENCG | string | "" | ||
| comment | ENG | string | "" | ||
| compound | G | bool | false | dot only | |
| concentrate | G | bool | false | ||
| constraint | E | bool | true | dot only | |
| decorate | E | bool | false | ||
| defaultdist | G | double | 1+(avg. len)*sqrt(|V|) | epsilon | neato only |
| dim | G | int | 2 | 2 | sfdp, fdp, neato only |
| dimen | G | int | 2 | 2 | sfdp, fdp, neato only |
| dir | E | dirType | forward(directed) none(undirected) |
||
| diredgeconstraints | G | string bool |
false | neato only | |
| distortion | N | double | 0.0 | -100.0 | |
| dpi | G | double | 96.0 0.0 |
svg, bitmap output only | |
| edgeURL | E | escString | "" | svg, map only | |
| edgehref | E | escString | "" | svg, map only | |
| edgetarget | E | escString | <none> | svg, map only | |
| edgetooltip | E | escString | "" | svg, cmap only | |
| epsilon | G | double | .0001 * # nodes(mode == KK) .0001(mode == major) |
neato only | |
| esep | G | addDouble addPoint |
+3 | not dot | |
| fillcolor | NEC | color colorList |
lightgrey(nodes) black(clusters) |
||
| fixedsize | N | bool | false | ||
| fontcolor | ENGC | color | black | ||
| fontname | ENGC | string | "Times-Roman" | ||
| fontnames | G | string | "" | svg only | |
| fontpath | G | string | system-dependent | ||
| fontsize | ENGC | double | 14.0 | 1.0 | |
| forcelabels | G | bool | true | ||
| gradientangle | NCG | int | "" | ||
| group | N | string | "" | dot only | |
| headURL | E | escString | "" | svg, map only | |
| headclip | E | bool | true | ||
| headhref | E | escString | "" | svg, map only | |
| headlabel | E | lblString | "" | ||
| headport | E | portPos | center | ||
| headtarget | E | escString | <none> | svg, map only | |
| headtooltip | E | escString | "" | svg, cmap only | |
| height | N | double | 0.5 | 0.02 | |
| href | GCNE | escString | "" | svg, postscript, map only | |
| id | GNE | escString | "" | svg, postscript, map only | |
| image | N | string | "" | ||
| imagepath | G | string | "" | ||
| imagescale | N | bool string |
false | ||
| label | ENGC | lblString | "'N" (nodes) "" (otherwise) |
||
| labelURL | E | escString | "" | svg, map only | |
| label_scheme | G | int | 0 | 0 | sfdp only |
| labelangle | E | double | -25.0 | -180.0 | |
| labeldistance | E | double | 1.0 | 0.0 | |
| labelfloat | E | bool | false | ||
| labelfontcolor | E | color | black | ||
| labelfontname | E | string | "Times-Roman" | ||
| labelfontsize | E | double | 14.0 | 1.0 | |
| labelhref | E | escString | "" | svg, map only | |
| labeljust | GC | string | "c" | ||
| labelloc | NGC | string | "t"(clusters) "b"(root graphs) "c"(nodes) |
||
| labeltarget | E | escString | <none> | svg, map only | |
| labeltooltip | E | escString | "" | svg, cmap only | |
| landscape | G | bool | false | ||
| layer | ENC | layerRange | "" | ||
| layerlistsep | G | string | "," | ||
| layers | G | layerList | "" | ||
| layerselect | G | layerRange | "" | ||
| layersep | G | string | " :'t" | ||
| layout | G | string | "" | ||
| len | E | double | 1.0(neato) 0.3(fdp) |
fdp, neato only | |
| levels | G | int | MAXINT | 0.0 | sfdp only |
| levelsgap | G | double | 0.0 | neato only | |
| lhead | E | string | "" | dot only | |
| lheight | GC | double | write only | ||
| lp | EGC | point | write only | ||
| ltail | E | string | "" | dot only | |
| lwidth | GC | double | write only | ||
| margin | NCG | double point |
<device-dependent> | ||
| maxiter | G | int | 100 * # nodes(mode == KK) 200(mode == major) 600(fdp) |
fdp, neato only | |
| mclimit | G | double | 1.0 | dot only | |
| mindist | G | double | 1.0 | 0.0 | circo only |
| minlen | E | int | 1 | 0 | dot only |
| mode | G | string | major | neato only | |
| model | G | string | shortpath | neato only | |
| mosek | G | bool | false | neato only | |
| nodesep | G | double | 0.25 | 0.02 | |
| nojustify | GCNE | bool | false | ||
| normalize | G | bool | false | not dot | |
| nslimit nslimit1 |
G | double | dot only | ||
| ordering | GN | string | "" | dot only | |
| orientation | N | double | 0.0 | 360.0 | |
| orientation | G | string | "" | ||
| outputorder | G | outputMode | breadthfirst | ||
| overlap | G | string bool |
true | not dot | |
| overlap_scaling | G | double | -4 | -1.0e10 | prism only |
| pack | G | bool int |
false | not dot | |
| packmode | G | packMode | node | not dot | |
| pad | G | double point |
0.0555 (4 points) | ||
| page | G | double point |
|||
| pagedir | G | pagedir | BL | ||
| pencolor | C | color | black | ||
| penwidth | CNE | double | 1.0 | 0.0 | |
| peripheries | NC | int | shape default(nodes) 1(clusters) |
0 | |
| pin | N | bool | false | fdp, neato only | |
| pos | EN | point splineType |
|||
| quadtree | G | quadType bool |
normal | sfdp only | |
| quantum | G | double | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| rank | S | rankType | dot only | ||
| rankdir | G | rankdir | TB | dot only | |
| ranksep | G | double doubleList |
0.5(dot) 1.0(twopi) |
0.02 | twopi, dot only |
| ratio | G | double string |
|||
| rects | N | rect | write only | ||
| regular | N | bool | false | ||
| remincross | G | bool | false | dot only | |
| repulsiveforce | G | double | 1.0 | 0.0 | sfdp only |
| resolution | G | double | 96.0 0.0 |
svg, bitmap output only | |
| root | GN | string bool |
<none>(graphs) false(nodes) |
circo, twopi only | |
| rotate | G | int | 0 | ||
| rotation | G | double | 0 | sfdp only | |
| samehead | E | string | "" | dot only | |
| sametail | E | string | "" | dot only | |
| samplepoints | N | int | 8(output) 20(overlap and image maps) |
||
| scale | G | double point |
twopi only | ||
| searchsize | G | int | 30 | dot only | |
| sep | G | addDouble addPoint |
+4 | not dot | |
| shape | N | shape | ellipse | ||
| shapefile | N | string | "" | ||
| showboxes | ENG | int | 0 | 0 | dot only |
| sides | N | int | 4 | 0 | |
| size | G | double point |
|||
| skew | N | double | 0.0 | -100.0 | |
| smoothing | G | smoothType | "none" | sfdp only | |
| sortv | GCN | int | 0 | 0 | |
| splines | G | bool string |
|||
| start | G | startType | "" | fdp, neato only | |
| style | ENCG | style | |||
| stylesheet | G | string | "" | svg only | |
| tailURL | E | escString | "" | svg, map only | |
| tailclip | E | bool | true | ||
| tailhref | E | escString | "" | svg, map only | |
| taillabel | E | lblString | "" | ||
| tailport | E | portPos | center | ||
| tailtarget | E | escString | <none> | svg, map only | |
| tailtooltip | E | escString | "" | svg, cmap only | |
| target | ENGC | escString string |
<none> | svg, map only | |
| tooltip | NEC | escString | "" | svg, cmap only | |
| truecolor | G | bool | bitmap output only | ||
| vertices | N | pointList | write only | ||
| viewport | G | viewPort | "" | ||
| voro_margin | G | double | 0.05 | 0.0 | not dot |
| weight | E | int double |
1 | 0(dot) 1(neato,fdp) |
|
| width | N | double | 0.75 | 0.01 | |
| xlabel | EN | lblString | "" | ||
|
|